THE GARDEN

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 77, 16 October 1942, Page 3

THE GARDEN

Seasonal Note s tor Amateurs FURTIIKR SI'HING OPERATIONS Run the hoe through the onions lest the weeds gain a footing. Attend to the thinning of early crops. This should be done as soon as the young plants are j big enough to handle so that they will i have ample space for development. ' Young cauliflowers should be set out J fiom the seed bed and a sowing of broccoli made for planting out later. I There may he room for another row | of peas and keep ground available for ] success!onal sowings of French and butter beans. Hoe up the potatoes and continue the planting of pumpkins and marrows in prepared, well-manured beds. SUMMER SALADS More and more the salads are increasing in popularity and plenty of lettuce should be sown and planted out successionally in any vacant beds or along the edges of the garden. To be crisp and have large hearts lettuce should grow quickly and need a good j well-tilled soil and plenty of moisture. If the early lettuces are nearly ready, make a sowing of mustard and cress to add that little extra flavour to the salads. Main crop beetroot, planted now will be a useful vegetable l'or summer use and spring onions for the evenings (perhaps when no visitors are expected), will be enjoyed later if sown now. Many like to make salads, in the modern healthy way, of raw cabbage and carrot. If this type of salad is popular make sticcessional sowings, for greens just picked from the garden are far more enjoyable than those picked several days before. Celery, if your soil is rich enough, and certainly radishes, will also help the salads.. By the way, spring onions were selling in Wellington this week at a price equal to id each. HOE THE LETTUCES Light spring showers freshen up the garden but usually do not penetrate to any depth into the soil. The day after the shower, when a crust will form on the soil, run the hoe through the rows and break up the hardening surface. This treatment will do far more good than watering and will keep the moisture in the ground. This stirring of the soil is particularly valuable in lettuce growing and when done regularly will result in crisp, hearty vegetables. The gardener who makes a practice of aerating the soil between the rows and in between the lettuces will invariably have better results than the gardener who soaks the lettuce patch with the hose or watering can each evening. SWEET CORN With American troops serving in the country there is bound (.-> i™ •>

me country there is bound to be a strong demand for sweet corn. This vegetable which, when served with butter. pepper and salt, is very tasty, lias not yet acquired the popularity in* New Zealand that Its easy cultivation and nutritive qualities deserve. The corn ' should be sown now and regularly in small quantities into the summer. The ’ seed should be about eight inches apart and in rows at least two feet apart. Take care, in selecting a suitable plot, that you do not shade rows to the south of the tall growing corn. The corn cobs should be picked for table use when the tassel withers and will, if picked at this stage, be easily cooked by boiling for twenty or thirty minutes. Corn fritters are very popular in the United States and imitation ovster dishes made from the corn can scarcely be distinguished from the original. ROTATION j Systematic cropping is undoubted!v I 'he best way of obtaining the maximum crops from a small kitchen garden. It is well known that to continue to plant the same crop in the same patch of ground impoverishes the soil and results in a steady decline in the quality of the vegetable produced Y very little thought, will enable even those With.little gardening experience to husband the fertility of their soil by systematic rotation of their plantings. Good trenching of the ground is of value where rotation is difficult but it by no means is a satisfactory alternative. The onion bed will be available later for cabbage and broccoli, as v-ill the rows of early planted broad beans. The early peas when taken oul will give room for a row or two of late potatoes. Root crops such as earrots and turnips should not be grown m the same place each year but should be replaced with a brassiea such as Brussels sprouts.